And David Tennant and Olivia Colman are returning to their roles as the much loved detective double act Hardy and Miller.

DI Alec Hardy and DS Ellie Miller are on the case again for series three, this time focusing on a sexual assault.

The pair have been through some dark times together, and Broadchurch’s final bow promises to be as gripping as the last two runs.

But what’s happened in the sleepy seaside town so far? Here’s a quick recap…

Series 1

(Picture: ITV)Series one dealt with the murder of 11-year-old Danny Latimer.

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Everyone in the community was a potential suspect, including a local loner (played brilliantly by Pauline Quirke) and Danny’s dad Mark who at first didn’t reveal his whereabouts on the night of the murder.

The Latimers were mourning the death of their 11-year-old son Danny (Picture: ITV)

Ellie was initially defensive of her friends and neighbours, but out-of-towner Alec warned her about getting too close. Their frosty relationship was made worse by the fact that Ellie was being lined up for Alec’s job before he arrived.

But Ellie had bigger fish to fry when it turned out her husband Joe had killed Danny.

Ellie’s husband Joe murdered Danny (Picture: ITV)

And because Ellie couldn’t be the only copper with personal problems, elsewhere Alec was struggling with his dodgy heart, and wound up in hospital by the end of the series.

Series 2

Series two was set seven months after where series one ended (Picture:ITV/Kudos)

…but survived to series two, kicking off with the trial of Joe Miller. He pleaded not guilty in court and – shockingly – was actually found not guilty by the end of the series.

Returning to Broadchurch (why?!) after getting off scot-free, he was confronted by Ellie, the Latimers and their neighbours who told Joe in no uncertain terms to get lost, with Ellie threatening to off him if he returned. And so Joe slunk away to Sheffield.

Elsewhere Hardy was also tackling the historic Sandbrook case which centered on the murder of two girls – Lisa and Pippa.

Joe was on trial (Picture: ITV/Kudos)

In the mix was witness Claire, who Alec had a bit of history with, and her on-off lover Lee.

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The finale revealed that Lisa was killed by her uncle Ricky after he walked in on her having sex with the much older Lee.

Hardy tried to tackle to the historic Sandbrook case, involving a witness called Claire, at the same time (Picture: ITV)

Meanwhile little Pippa had heard Lee and Lisa having sex and thought Lee was responsible for killing Lisa. So to shut her up, Claire drugged her with Ricky’s flask of rohypnol and Lee finished her off with a pillow.